Meet Rebekah Wilson: The Olympian who has been revitalised by playing rugby league
Rebekah Wilson is enjoying a new lease of life playing rugby league after competing in the Winter Olympics just six years ago.
The 28-year-old took up athletics at nine years of age and she set a European record for the 60 metres at 12, a record that stands at present.
Wilson said: “I first started in athletics at nine years old and age 12, I set the European age best performance for a 12-year-old over 60 metres, which is a record that still stands.”
Wilson turned her hand to bobsleigh at 2010, where she trialled for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver but she finished fifth and was not selected. Wilson then competed for the two-women bobsleigh at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
She added: “I’d always told everyone ‘I’m going to the Olympics’.
“It was a fantastic experience but it wasn’t necessarily the experience you see when you are watching the Olympics on TV.
“I was privy to the pressure and the politics and all those things that go along with the sport but then you get sucked into the world-class environment and your self worth is attributed to hundreds and tenths of seconds and you lose a little bit of touch with reality.”
But Wilson has turned her attention to a different spot in recent times, having taken up rugby league with Warrington in the Women’s Super League.
She continued: “Transferring out of such an individual sport into a team sport which I’m now in with Warrington Wolves in rugby league.
“I’ve got that loving culture and family backing again which I think is what was missing when I was at the games.
“Rugby league has been a huge turning point for me in my life. I was lost, I’ve always been very lost and I’ve never really known my place in the world.
“To think that six years ago I was in a full body suit of lycra and responsible for how fast I could run and jump in a sled to now running out on a pitch with my boots on and shirt – it is a really exciting time for women in the world.”
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